Academic Progression

General information and official policy

Academic progression is covered by Part 15 of the Coursework Policy and is designed to provide early identification and support for students who are making poor progress.

We have designed the Staying on Track program to help you perform to your academic potential. The program helps us recognise if and when you are experiencing difficulty meeting the minimum academic progression requirements for your degree and provide you with a wide range of support services to assist with their ongoing studies.

The policy explains that exclusion from the University is the ultimate consequence of several semesters of not meeting the academic progression requirements. We want to help you take immediate action to improve your academic performance and make an informed decision about your academic future well before that stage is reached.

We have information pages designed to help students with each stage of the academic progression staying on track process.

For students in degrees equivalent to 2 years full time study or less, there is no stage 2. If such students already at Stage 1 have another "at risk" semester, they move to Stage 3.

Our advice to help students stay on track

Making a substantial change to academic performance is challenging, but it is possible.

Honesty and genuine commitment to change are the first and most important steps.

Honesty to yourself, family and friends in genuinely assessing the reasons behind your academic performance will help find a solution.

You must be willing and able to change the circumstances that are affecting your performance.

We suggest the some of the following self-assessment questions and advice will help identify affecting your performance, and help you improve.

Many students experience issues that affect their academic performance. These issues may relate to areas such as performance anxiety, career uncertainty, lack of motivation, financial pressures, relationship problems or family expectations. Nearly everyone experiences situations like these during their lives, and there should be no embarrassment or shame about experiencing difficulties. We encourage you to take advantage of the range of student support services to help you with your academic and career decisions.

We suggest you re-assess your approach to your academic endeavours. Are you using your time effectively? Could you perform better by reading notes before the lecture or creating a study group with your friends? Should you consider a reduced enrolment next semester? Are you spending too much time on a part-time job or social media internet surfing?

Students should assess their approach to study - are their current methods effective? The first step is ensuring you can achieve close to 100% attendance at lectures and tutorials.

You should follow our enrolment rules by avoiding enrolling in too many units of study or units for which you have not understood the assumed knowledge. You are obliged to re-enrol in any core units you did not pass in precedence above any other unit.

You should ensure that you dedicate sufficient time each week for academic purposes and avoid excessive conflict with work, sporting and social activities. Studying engineering is like a full-time job, and you should allocate approximately 36-40 hours a week to university work (9-10 hours per 6 credit point unit - lectures, tutorials plus at home work).

Students are encouraged to seek and follow the advice of their academic advisors.

Is your current degree in engineering/IT/project managment what you really want do? Often lack of motivation is a key factor affecting performance. Students are sometimes pressured by family or friends to persue a field of study. Speak to family, friends, counsellors or mentors - there is nothing wrong in making a career or degree change.